What is a Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan?

​Essentially, it is an "optional" prescription drug benefit offered to anyone enrolled in a Medicare health plan. It is "optional" because even if you do not take prescription medications, if you do not enroll in a Part D plan when you are initially eligible, you will likely pay a permanent Late Enrollment penalty when you ultimately do enroll in a prescription drug plan.

There are two ways to get Medicare prescription drug coverage:
  • Enroll in a Prescription Drug Plan (Part D). Sometimes called a "PDP" plan, these are stand-alone plans offered by insurance companies to augment Original Medicare. To enroll, Part A and/or Part B of Medicare are required;
  • Enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan (or some other Medicare health plan that offers drug plan coverage. To enroll, Part A and Part B are required. It is a policy is sold by private companies. It can help pay some of the health care costs that Original Medicare doesn’t cover, like co-payments, coinsurance, and deductibles.
Some good news--we can help with your enrollment

If you are already enrolled in a Part D “standalone” plan or a Medicare Advantage plan that incorporates drug coverage, you can switch plans during the open-enrollment period, which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 every year.

You can sign up for Part D Prescription Drug Plans, which helps cover prescription drug costs, along with other components of Medicare starting three months before your 65th birthday.
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It’s important to do this on time because there’s a permanent premium surcharge for enrolling more than three months after your 65th birthday if you don’t have equivalent drug coverage from another source, such as an employer or a retiree plan.
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Choosing a Part D plan

It pays to review your Part D coverage every year, especially if you have started taking new drugs.

You can “do it yourself” at Medicare.gov, where you can find the basics about the benefit and Part D plans. There’s a link to the Medicare Part D Plan Finder, which allows you to compare offerings and coverage options in your area and includes a helpful formulary finder that allows you to compare plans based on their coverage of your personalized list of drugs. It will even show you your monthly out-of-pocket drug cost for the year.

Or, “Option B” – let us help you.

We consider it very important to make certain the plan that (hopefully) served you well during the year, will do so in the coming year as well. Sometimes, things change:
    • The plan may have changed its monthly premium, or changed the deductible
    • Your prescriptions have changed
    • Your particular med has experienced a change within the formulary (maybe no longer carried, changed Tier–meaning cost, or something)
    • A pharmacy source may have become more “Preferred” or less so (more costly).

​The point is that we attempt to confirm the best drug coverage each and every year so that you may be confident going forward, and we have provided valuable service to you. That is very important to us!

Additionally, read about the six ways to lower your drug costs on Medicare.gov.
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This information obtained from www.medicare.gov